July Flame
by dockfangirl
Summary: What happens when Klaus has been gone from Mystic Falls for a year and returns to find Caroline all alone in the rain?


I don't own these characters, if I did, the show would be all about them and would have to air on premium cable! I've had this drabble in mind for a long time now, and initially I was going to save it until TVD was on hiatus for the summer, but I've been longing for some warmer weather where I am in NYC and I figured I could at least write about it. This is inspired by my OBSESSION with July Flame by Laura Veirs.

**July Flame**

Caroline Forbes had finished her volunteer work for the Mystic Falls Beautification Committee, working seven straight days helping to repaint swing sets and benches in several of the parks across town. Her duties as Chair of the committee could be grueling, but she didn't mind. She loved being in the middle of all that was going on to transform the town. It was the reason she had decided to stay in Mystic Falls when all of her friends had gone out of town for the weekend. Her vampire abilities obviously gave her an edge over all the other humans on the committee and she wanted to be around to help out. She was able to work harder for much longer, but even _she _had her limits and called an early evening the previous night after the last bench had been repainted.

After staying at home all day browsing Amazon, adding way too many things to her wish-list and getting caught up on "_The Bachelor_," Caroline had a rare evening to herself... and absolutely no idea how she was going to spend it. So, she began with a walk through town to the first park the committee had started on at the beginning of the year. She admired the various shades of Hydrangeas in full bloom planted along a circle near the fountain and reminisced about the day that she and Bonnie had planted them together.

Caroline's thoughts drifted to her friends and how settled their lives seemed since Klaus and Rebekah had left town. Or it started it out that way. Bonnie and Jeremy had rekindled their relationship and Matt was dating April. Elena had moved in the Salvatore house with Damon and Stefan had decided to leave shortly after. Things should have settled down for her and Tyler as well, but they didn't. After the hybrids had been sacrificed, all Tyler seemed to want to do was find more werewolves and make his own pack, become a real alpha. It wasn't a quest that Caroline genuinely wanted to be a part of and they both came to terms with that. And after Stefan left, Caroline herself kept having thoughts of traveling and making her own way in the world too. If she was honest with herself, those thoughts came even before Stefan left and right around the time that Klaus made his departure. It was hard to admit that the Original's words to her ran through her mind on a constant loop...

_"Perhaps one day, in a year or even a century, you'll turn up at my door and let me show you what the world has to offer..." _

Caroline stopped to sit on a nearby park bench, deep in her thoughts. A cool breeze stroked her face and made her long, wavy blond hair fly about her shoulders. It was a welcome reprieve from the mid June heat that permeated the town and she relished in it.

Shaking those thoughts from her mind, Caroline decided to take a good look at the world around her. The world she had been hiding from for so long. She'd decided to take a gap year and had filled it to bursting with volunteer work thinking that would give her some perspective, but still she felt discontented. It seemed as if the weather was mirroring her anxious mind, because she could sense the rain that was coming. She could smell it in the air, a subtle promise, a freshness that guaranteed that all things could be washed away and made new again. That assurance hung in the air like a whispered word on a cloudless day.

Closing her eyes, Caroline remembered how she used to dance for hours in the rain, much to the amusement of her parents. She smiled at the memory of how she used to laugh and twirl about as the rain soaked her, not caring one bit, because she was alive and free and completely happy. She yearned for the days when she felt those things.

Caroline opened her eyes, narrowing them at the sky and her smile widened as she spotted dark clouds rolling in. The light breeze had picked up, the gentle gusts brushing softly against her skin in the most delightful way, and she reached up to brush her hair back, reveling in the cool feeling of the wind sweeping across her neck.

And then it began. A loud crack of thunder shook the sky and the clouds wrenched wide open. She was soaked through in seconds, and the ground began to soften all around her. The flowers opening up to welcome every drop.

She gazed up at the sky and tried to keep her eyes open to watch the drops as they fell in endless streams, but there were so many and they were too strong. The largest drops were fleeting kisses on her cheeks and all of them tasted so very sweet. Caroline suddenly reminded herself how great it was to be in this moment, since all too often she forgot to appreciate the small things like getting caught in a downpour and she laughed a little.

Another forceful clap of thunder billowed across the sky, and Caroline's eyes lit up, shining with exuberance. Before she had time to talk herself out it, she stood up and began to dance. Her eyes closed of their own volition and she imagined herself in a warm embrace, just the thought of it brought the first genuine smile to her face since she'd gotten Stefan's first promised post card letting her know that he was OK.

* * *

Klaus strolled aimlessly through the park with his hands behind his back, paying no attention to the steady falling rain. He'd abandoned Elijah at the stuffy founders meeting and sought refuge outside. His mind was solely on her, in a way that it hadn't been in an entire year. He knew it was because he was back in Mystic Falls, but as he'd made no plans to drop in on Caroline, he felt he should exercise some control and try to purge her from his thoughts.

It was then that he saw her, off to the left. She was all alone in the clearing, dancing in the rain. Klaus had to smirk to himself at the sight of the always proper Caroline Forbes twirling like a little girl in the continuous stream. And he could tell by the jubilant tint to her delicate features that she was enjoying every second of it. Klaus stopped where he was, just to watch her for a while and couldn't resist closing his eyes and turning his face up to the downpour. He allowed the rain to spatter him a few moments and then he leveled his eyes at her again.

He stood there admiring her as she danced to a mystery song, unaware at how drenched in water she actually was. The slight fabric of her yellow sun-dress clung to her lithe body and her hair whipped around in long golden rivulets. She twirled moving her arms through the falling water as she spun around and around as if she'd discovered the very meaning of her existence. She lifted her head at that moment, her eyes were still closed, and he could focus on her always arresting face. Her long eyelashes rested like little golden feathers on her rosy cheeks while rain drops trickled down the elegant bridge of her nose and kissed her perfectly formed lips before disappearing into the soft cleft on her proud chin.

"You look quite delighted with the rain. I could almost believe you conjured it and it was falling just to please you." Klaus found himself saying, startling Caroline out of her daydream as he walked toward her.

Caroline stopped mid-twirl, her eyes flew open and for a moment she thought it was a mirage of Klaus that she was seeing. The way the remaining sunlight refracted in the rain drops surrounding him made it an almost celestial experience and she had to shake her head to be sure he was real.

"I'm dancing..." It was all she could think to say. She hadn't seen him in a little over a year, but here he stood in all his Original hybrid majesty. He was uncharacteristically attired in formal wear, an impeccable dark gray designer suit, black dress shirt and black shoes that he was ruining in the rain. His hair was a little longer than the last time she'd laid eyes on him and the curliness of it stood out in defiance, refusing to be tamed by the rain, making her fingers itch to touch it. But there were some things that would always remain, that made him distinctly Klaus. His stubble, appealingly adorning his jaw in a rakish golden fuzz. His eyes, a fierce blue that rivaled the night sky. His lips, a most sensuous shade of pink that she envied and when he smiled at her, his boyish dimples flirted with her shamelessly.

"Why are you dancing _in the rain_, love?" He questioned her, walking ever closer, his moth to her flame.

It was always something about his proximity, just being near him was like an elixir. "I used to dance in the rain all the time when I was little. I felt so alive and I..." She broke off when he finally stood within arms reach.

"...wanted to capture that feeling again?" He finished for her.

The thunder had quieted, and the rain had slowed to a steady drizzle as if the elements understood that the tension between them was explosive enough and needed little provocation. "Yeah, something like that." She answered, a little breathlessly.

Klaus smiled slightly and when he stopped, within a hair's breadth of her, her scent washed over him. She smelled of summer nights and flowers on the air. He had to stop himself from leaning in and inhaling her. He looked into her eyes and felt himself sink. "My sister used to dance with my youngest brother in the rain long ago and she used to tell him this tale that circulated through our village, that if you dance when it's raining with someone you care about or a close friend, and make a wish… it will come true."

Caroline gasped a little at the implication and he smiled brilliantly in response. His dimples on full display and his eyes twinkling so brightly she thought she could see Venus reflected in their depths. "But, you're the only one here." She teased.

"So, let's _pretend_ that we're _just _friends." He said, opening his arms and taking a step forward, a wicked grin on his adoring face.

"There's no music playing..." She protested superficially. It was perfunctory of her to refuse him, but she knew that in his arms was where she belonged, where she ultimately longed to be. It was where she'd imagined herself when she began to dance before he'd even appeared.

"Oh, you were making out just fine without any music before. And I think we both know that there's a song playing for us somewhere." He said, before slipping an arm around her and capturing one of her hands in his.

"Come on, sweetheart, dance with me..." They fit together like a lock and key, and their joining opened a door that neither could breach when apart. Klaus pulled Caroline closer and rested his forehead against hers. When he dropped her hand, she slipped it up to his shoulder and soon they were slow dancing in the gentle rain like they were picking up where they left off, like no time had passed.

_July flame_  
_Fiery kite_  
_Will-o-the-wisp_  
_Lead me through the night_

Klaus led the dance, tightening his embrace. A warm sensation went through his veins at being so close to her. Their eyes met and the lightning from the passing storm, now flashed between them. Caroline's pupils dilated, the entrancing blue of her irises, that he'd discovered was impossible to recreate on canvas, became minuscule and he saw the pulse at the base of her neck jump erratically. He was so tempted to kiss her there, to see if her skin tasted like the rain, but he restrained himself.

Dancing with him was as easy as breathing and Caroline let herself float on the emotions that the simple back and forth steps evoked within her, before he spoke again.

"How is your mother?" He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers before meeting her eyes again expecting an answer.

"She's fine, she was just re-elected as Sheriff, so she's still doing what she loves." Caroline offered.

"And are you keeping in touch with Stefan?" He asked deliberately.

"Every now and then, I get a post card from him. A few months ago he was in Indonesia, but he said that he was only passing through." She missed him terribly and her voice caught a little bit when she spoke. "I haven't gotten another one to say if he made it to wherever he was going." She hoped he was happy.

"I'd like to think that wherever Stefan is, he's quite content or he'd be back here, now wouldn't he?" Klaus raised an eyebrow at her.

Caroline suspected that Klaus actually knew more about that than he let on. Thinking about Stefan leaving made her remember how she found out that Klaus had packed up his house and left without even so much as a _'goodbye.'_

"Why did you leave?" The question slipped softly, unexpectedly from her and he detected the hurt feelings beneath her words.

"It was time." He tilted his head, looking down at her intently. "You needed the space to reconcile yourself with how you feel, sweetheart." He spun her around and held her eyes with his as closely as he held the rest of her.

"You needed to find out if all of your hours of endless volunteer work, here in Mystic Falls, would sustain you." He said knowingly and winked at her.

_July flame_  
_Sweet summer peach_  
_High up in the branch_  
_Just out of my reach_

Caroline let the truth of why he left filter through her mind. She hadn't understood that she'd actually been so pained when she found out he was gone. But the realization of it unnerved her. She hadn't been the same since. And she'd been trying to fill up her life with activities that used to be important to the old version of herself in an attempt to bring back some normalcy to her life. But Klaus had been a whirlwind, something the likes of which she'd never experienced and never would again outside of him.

"I forgot that _you're quite the dancer_." Caroline sighed. The intensity of his gaze on her mouth caused an anxiousness that made her insides flutter.

"_I've had training_..." Klaus smirked at her and all she could think about was the first time they'd danced together and had that exact exchange, only in reverse.

Klaus' hand slid along the damp fabric of her dress that clung to her and her back arched pushing her body against his. Then his hand found its way into her wet hair and massaged the nape of her neck. "Made your wish yet?" Klaus asked, his voice low.

Caroline bit her bottom lip and then closed her eyes and after a few moments, she opened them again, "Done."

"What did you wish for?" He didn't think she'd tell him, but he asked anyway, spinning her around again.

"If I tell you, then it won't come true." She stated very matter of fact, trying to sound serious, but completely distracted by his inviting mouth.

_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_

"I beg to differ, I would do anything to make any wish of yours come true..." Klaus proclaimed with a conviction he hadn't felt about anything in over a year.

Caroline considered his declaration for a moment, it disarmed her. "You mean that, don't you?"

Klaus rested his forehead against hers and gave in to the impulse to press a kiss to the center. "I mean everything that I say to you, Caroline. Everything."

Caroline wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled softly at him. Klaus smiled, holding her tight against him. She leaned back a little to look into his smoldering eyes and the pull towards him was like gravity. The blue of his eyes, that rich, deep, incredible color - intensified, as if heated by some internal and very hot flame.

All of a sudden, her hands were finally in his hair, intertwining in his wet curls and pulling his mouth towards hers. His lips were softer than she ever imagined and his kiss was incomparable - nuanced and refined and unlike anything she could have conjured in her dreams.

Klaus was incited at the taste of her. He grasped her chin and parted her lips, slipping his tongue inside of her mouth. Then he caressed her bottom lip before taking it between his own and sucking lightly on it. His action caused a shudder to rake through her body and she moaned against him.

Caroline's hands gripped Klaus' hair tighter and she felt the urge to climb him. Before she knew it, she was lifted by her waist, and her legs wrapped around him with her back pressed against the trunk of a tree with Klaus' mouth bestowing languid kisses to the curve of her neck.

She could feel the length of him along the the very core of her body. It was an exquisite torture and she writhed against him causing him to groan deep within his throat. She pulled his mouth back to hers, thrusting her tongue inside of his and his hands clutched her thighs tightly. She couldn't get him close enough and her hands went to the buttons of his shirt and began to undo them.

_July flame_  
_I'm seeing fireworks_  
_They're so beautiful_  
_Tell me why it hurts_

She was a siren, truly. Her body against his sang the song that set his blood on fire, and at the same time gave him an unarguable sense of home. Of decency and goodness. It was because of that feeling that Klaus pulled back from the kiss and slowly unwrapped Caroline's legs from around his waist, standing her on her feet in front of him before grasping her hands and pulling them down his body to rest between them. "As much as I want this... as much as I want you, I believe that I extended you an open invitation that you still need to make up your mind about, love."

Caroline could hear the unsteadiness of his voice and she could see the insecurity in his eyes. "Klaus, I..."

He cut her words off before she could finish, placing his thumb over her lips. "This is hard enough without you saying something that will make it impossible for me to remain the gentleman you deserve. Now, you still have time. I'll be waiting for you..."

_July flame_  
_Ashes of a secret heart_  
_Falling in my lemonade_  
_Unslakable thirsting in the backyard_

All Caroline could do was nod her head in agreement before he put his arm out and she linked her arm in his. He walked her home in relative silence and saw her to her door. She pulled out her keys with every intention of unlocking it, but she couldn't take her eyes off of him. She couldn't help but feel like somehow the proverbial tables had turned on her and now he held all of the power in their fluctuating dynamic.

Klaus wanted nothing more in that moment than to abscond with Caroline. Whisk her out of the country and make Mystic Falls nothing but a fond recollection of a past life, but he needed her to choose him. He needed to know that all of this was behind her and she was truly ready.

_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_

He grabbed the keys from her hand and unlocked the door leaning her against it. He placed the sweetest most delicate kiss upon her lips and then kissed the top of her head and let himself be comforted by the texture of her now drying curls beneath his lips.. "I'll see you in a little while, Caroline."

"In a little while..." Caroline repeated softly before Klaus turned around and then he was gone.

Two weeks later...

It was the beginning of the first week of July and Caroline still hadn't heard from Klaus. She'd made up her mind that night after their dance in the rain that she was indeed ready to let him show her what the world had to offer, but she had no idea where to start... She was currently wondering if she should make any plans to spend the holiday with her friends, when she walked into her house, speeded up the stairs into her bedroom and noticed a white envelope on her nightstand. Her mother must have come home and checked the mail before leaving out again. Caroline flipped the rather large envelope over and she immediately recognized her name and address elegantly written in Stefan's handwriting. She didn't even waste her time putting her bag down before opening it.

She pulled out the textured paper and read the short note. "We'll be here for a while, and there's an empty seat next to a familiar face. Won't you join us?"

Caroline thought it was an odd invitation from Stefan, until she looked down at what had dropped from the folded letter when she opened it. It was a picture... a picture taken by Stefan of a table for four on a balcony, over-looking the bluest most inviting water she had ever laid eyes on. Klaus was sitting directly across from Stefan in a black linen shirt with trendy black sunglasses on, the bright sunlight mating with the golden streaks in his soft curly hair with his dimples winking at her. Just the sight of him caused a flush to break out across her entire body and an ache so deep within her, she knew only he could fill. It was as if he was saying, _"I'll see you in a little while, Caroline."_

_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_

She was so captivated by Klaus' image that she almost overlooked someone else in the picture. There was a beautiful woman seated next to Stefan with her chair facing his. One of Stefan's hands draped intimately atop her bare legs that were propped in his lap, which was the only portion of him that was visible in the photo. It was Rebekah and she looked so unusually happy and carefree with a genuine adoring smile on her face directed at Stefan, that Caroline barely recognized her. Rebekah's head rested on her brother's shoulder, her hair in a messy bun on top of her head and her emerald green bikini displaying her flawless complexion.

_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_

Caroline couldn't help the smile that began to spread on her face when she plopped back against the pillows on her bed to read Stefan's message again. Now she understood why Klaus seemed to know more than he let on about Stefan's whereabouts. She put the letter down and grabbed the envelope again only to have the last item inside slip into her hand. A plane ticket to Australia...

_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_  
_Can I call you mine?_

Caroline allowed herself to squeal aloud as she got up from her bed, immediately opening her closet and thinking to herself, _"In a little while..."_

* * *

Thank you so much for reading and if you enjoyed it, please let me know how much! ;)


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